As faithful readers know, I often write about the responsibilities of “our generation” with regard to the “next generation.” I have always believed that we must demonstrate the passion and pride we have for our profession, and encourage others to join our ranks.
With that in mind, I couldn’t have been more surprised when this month’s contributor, Melissa Donais, RN, FNP, called me a few years ago to say she wanted to leave chiropractic school because she had decided to become a nurse practitioner. Her excitement about this decision was incredible, and watching her enthusiasm for the profession grow as she progressed through her program has been a joy.
In September 2008, when I was introduced as the NP Editor-in-Chief, I noted that I didn’t “want to be the only one writing!” and that I hoped “to encourage the nascent author to contribute to Clinician Reviews, … adding to the richness and variety of the content.” This is the first of what I hope will now be many contributions from our “next generation.” —MEO
Last year at this time, I spent the bulk of my days poring over nursing and medical textbooks, answering hundreds of questions from practice board exams online, and shadowing nurse practitioners at a variety of primary care clinics. It was my final year of study in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Boston College.
Like many of my classmates, I eagerly awaited graduation day. To us, graduation represented the culmination of the years of hard work, the all-nighters, the time spent away from our families to achieve the goal of our master’s in nursing. It was our “finish line,” and we counted the weeks, days, and even hours until we lined up and marched, heads held high, into the Boston College football stadium. While it was certainly a memorable day, reflecting on my experience as an NP student lends an entirely different perspective today.
I was fortunate to begin working as an FNP immediately following graduation. On my first day, I felt that I had accomplished all the prerequisites necessary to be a successful NP. I had thrived in nursing school, I had impressed my preceptors in clinical, and certainly I possessed all the knowledge I needed to excel in practice. I felt like I had “arrived.” However, I quickly learned that in many ways my classmates and I were wrong. Graduation was not our finish line. Instead, graduation was the culmination of our training. We were only beginning our true journey: the marathon that will represent our careers as NPs.
The marathon is a great analogy for the NP entering practice. Like the NP career, the marathon is a challenging mental, physical, and emotional event. One cannot simply show up in Hopkinton at the start of the Boston Marathon and enter the race on a whim. Like nurses, marathoners tend to be individuals who are very dedicated to their event and often spend months or years training for it.
The training in itself is demanding, requiring the runner to forgo social events in favor of tasks that are more suitable to logging miles and resting weary legs. The years I spent in nursing school, mastering the skills I would need for practice, are akin to the marathoner in training, running mileage to prepare her body for the challenge of the event. Graduation day was not my finish line—far from it! Rather, graduation day was my starting line.
This first year of my NP practice brought a swell of contradicting emotions: hope, distress, courage, and fear. With each step that brings triumph, there is another that brings doubt. There is the patient who, now feeling better, is filled with gratitude and thanks me for “curing” her. In these cases, I feel excited and eager, much like the marathoner who loves to run above all else. Then there is the patient whose lab results are so far off that I curse my classes for not going into more detail and I struggle when developing his plan of care. At these times, I feel like my task is daunting, and I wonder how I will ever accomplish what is expected of me, much like the marathoner in her first mile of the race, knowing there are 26 long miles ahead.
Though at times both nursing and running can seem like solitary endeavors, it is important to remember that support is not far away. In the marathon, hundreds if not thousands of spectators line the route, cheering the runners on. Often, runners will encourage each other and may even choose to run alongside a slower friend for part of the journey. Likewise, as an NP, I have a number of colleagues both in my primary care office and through our hospital network who provide support, encouragement, and understanding. The doctor with whom I work directly is an invaluable resource and has mentored me from the beginning. Without this support, neither the runner nor the NP could accomplish her tasks.